Centers that are close to Veterans’ organizations geographically have partnered with them in a number of ways. Often centers share in group meetings specific to veterans or to a specific disability experienced by veterans as part of their Peer Support services.
And often centers refer veterans to their local hospitals or rehab units.
We do not often see partnerships where Veterans’ organizations provide grants for services that a CIL can offer — until now.
VA Announces Veterans Employment Pay for Success Grant Program
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has created the Veterans Employment Pay for Success (VEPFS) grant program, through which it will award funds for vocational rehabilitation and job-seeking assistance for veterans with service-connected disabilities. The program is provided under the authority of the U.S.C. to award grants to eligible entities to fund projects that are successful in accomplishing employment rehabilitation for Veterans with service-connected disabilities. VA will award grants on the basis of an eligible entity’s proposed use of a Pay for Success (PFS) strategy to achieve goals. This interim final rule establishes regulations for awarding a VEPFS grant, including the general process for awarding the grant, criteria and parameters for evaluating grant applications, priorities related to the award of a grant, and general requirements and guidance for administering a VEPFS grant program. The federal registry announcement indicates that the funds can be used to make outcomes payments only if an intervention achieves outcomes at a pre- set level that has been agreed to in a PFS agreement before service delivery begins for a PFS project with a goal to improve employment outcomes for Veterans with service-connected disabilities. As stated above, the reason for using a PFS strategy is to avoid using taxpayer dollars for ineffective services and therefore save taxpayer money. VA is specifically funding PFS projects that aim to improve employment outcomes for Veterans with service-connected disabilities to carry out Congress’ intention that VA ‘‘advance the knowledge, methods, techniques, and resources available for use in rehabilitation programs for veterans’’ and increase the ‘‘potential for accomplishing the rehabilitation of disabled veterans.’’